NZ Conservation Minister: Green Movement Caught Napping By Minerals Debate?
October 21st, 2009
Could it be that the Govt has stolen a march on the environmental movement by reframing the debate about NZ’s mineral wealth in a way which has captured public imagination and is providing a buffer against the inevitable objections to greater reliance on extractive industries? This is what we at NZ Energy & Environment Business Week are beginning to think. John Key identified action to accelerate exploitation of NZ’s mineral wealth as a defining element of his administration earlier this year, and has been working behind the scenes for months with Energy and Resources Minister Gerry Brownlee to craft the agenda now emerging.
In particular, Key has identified just tinkering with regulatory and legal frameworks to assist explorers and producers is not enough. There has to be an acceleration in real activity and Key has been using his office as part of a concerted effort to promote the importance of this policy area, whether it be in talks with the Chinese Premier Hu Jin Tao earlier this year, by appointing Auckland University scientific entrepreneur Peter Gluckman as his Chief Science Adviser, or seeking to ensure the research, science and technology reforms give particular priority to minerals and geological research.
But where is the environmental movement? Greenpeace has been so focused on climate change and its attack on the use by NZ farmers of palm kernels in animal feed, it has been barely visible on mining issues. Cath Wallace, the long-time head of the ECO environmental lobby, has issued some fighting talk but at this stage, the PR advantage has gone almost exclusively to the Govt. The idea “we should look at we’ve got” sits well with most NZers, with polls showing a relatively relaxed attitude to the idea the DoC estate should at least be surveyed for mineral potential.
Likewise, there was a heavy security presence at the Solid Energy annual result presentation in Wellington this week, no doubt anticipating environmental protests which have disrupted other events run by the state-owned coal and bio-fuels producer. But in the end, they were unnecessary. If there was an environmental lobby presence at the meeting, it was well-hidden among a sea of middle-aged men in suits.
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